Broken Solitude
by aphrael21
Summary: A chance encounter between Kaiba and Anzu in a park. Need I say more?


**Broken Solitude**

Kaiba and Anzu have a chance encounter in a park. Will it change how things stand between them?

I needed a break from writing "Advice…" so I went back through some of my earlier ideas and found this one tucked away in a corner of my hard drive. Something about it just seemed to tell me that I needed to work on it so here it is. Hope you all enjoy this one!

* * *

Anzu rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her hand and sighed in frustration. A break was exactly what she needed. Too much studying was making her head hurt and her eyes cross. She checked her alarm clock. Hmm, eight-thirty already. A walk in the park would clear her mind and maybe let her finish studying for her math exam tomorrow. The sounds of the trees rustling in the wind and the lake murmuring under the bridge she loved to stand on would be better than the silence that was currently permeating her bedroom as well. Pushing her chair back, away from her desk and the hated math books she was studying, she stood up and stretched her arms over her head before grabbing a light blue jacket and walking out of her room towards the front door of the house.

"I'm going for a walk. Be back soon!" she yelled as she put her jacket on before remembering that the house was devoid of anyone except her. Her parents were on yet another business trip to America and wouldn't return for at least two weeks, according to the note they'd left for her on the fridge yesterday. They were always so busy with work that they hardly had time to pay her too much attention. She knew that they were trying to provide her with a better future but it would have been nice to spend more time with them.

Closing and locking the front door behind her, she walked down the three short steps and emerged onto the busy street in front of her home. She turned left and started to head for the park that was only a few blocks from where she lived. Cars whizzed by on the street, the rush of air in their passing making her coffee coloured hair fly about her head. She smiled a bit when she caught a reflection of herself in the window of a bakery. Wind-blown hair was most definitely a good look for her. She looked wild, untamed and, she admitted this with some pleasure to herself, sexy. It gave her confidence and her stride picked up enough conviction to become a strut, something that would have given even Kaiba pause, had he seen her in this state. She was feeling so bold that she gave the baker inside, a large man of about forty years of age and a receding hairline, a saucy wink and blew him a kiss, laughing at his startled expression and subsequent, sheepish smile.

Humming a tune to herself, she made her way through the entrance of the park, all thoughts of studying, parents and love forgotten as she viewed the stunning scene before her. The glorious setting sun was crowning the skyscrapers of Domino as it sank to its nightly bed. The fiery orange glow was refracted a million times over by the windows on those monuments-to-progress, making their reflection in the park's lake shimmer as if ablaze. A few moments later and Anzu had arrived at her most favourite spot in the park - the bridge. Here she could listen to the sounds of the water as it flowed gently underneath, lapping at the abutments that held the bridge up, and listen to the wind as it whispered through the leaves of the trees. Here she thought about nothing more important than her daydreams that would have made her blush if anyone knew who and what she dreamt about. No fears about the world coming to an end or evil taking over humanity or even the impending math test that felt like doomsday. Resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on the wooden edge of the bridge, she sighed longingly and fell into her favourite daydream.

Kaiba Seto. There was something darkly attractive about a guy who could stop all conversation just by walking into a room. And his piercing blue eyes could (and usually did) cut to the heart. Throw in the fact that he'd saved her life a couple of times and there it was. Instant crush and daydream material. In her dreams, it was just the two of them, walking side by side on the beach and saying nothing. Just holding hands and watching the sun set before them. There was just something about him that made her go all warm and fuzzy inside anytime she was near him. Her heart beat faster just thinking about this dream and her cheeks glowed bright enough to put the sun to shame, she thought. Kaiba may have been an arrogant jerk to her and her friends but that wouldn't stop her from thinking about him.

"Hmm, wonder what he's doing right now?" she whispered softly, letting the wind carry her words where they would.

* * *

Seto rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand and peered, bleary-eyed, at the clock on the wall of his office. Eight-thirty at night and he'd just gotten through his last report for the day plus he still had that thrice-damned math exam to study for. Not that he really needed to study, just more to refresh his memory than anything else. But before that happened, he needed a break. Maybe a walk in the park would soothe his frazzled nerves. He'd been through six meetings and at least a dozen first priority phone calls in the last three hours. Unwinding was his own first priority. That and maybe a cup of coffee. A strong cup. Pushing his leather chair away from his desk, its surface meticulously organized and ready for tomorrow, he grabbed his long white trench coat and headed out of the office to the elevator that would lead him to freedom. The hallways were empty, the other offices devoid of life. As usual, Seto was the last one to leave. Strutting out of the office doors after enduring the silent ride down, he waved off his limousine driver as he scurried to open the back door of the long, black vehicle.

"I'm walking home this evening," Seto stated, his icy voice betraying nothing of the bone-numbing weariness he was feeling, and began his walk towards the street that would lead him to the park. Cars and bikes whizzed past him on the street and he found himself growing irritated at the sound. The noise of the city usually soothed and calmed him but tonight it was as annoying and insistent as a mosquito whining in the dead of night. The park he was heading towards called to him somehow, beckoned to him as one beckons a lover and he found himself picking up the pace. The solitude it offered was what he needed right now. Standing at the entrance, he watched the sunset for a few minutes. The skyscrapers pierced the sun like knives in the heavens and the rays seemed to bleed into the park's lake and he shivered in spite of himself at the morbidity of his thoughts.

He hoped that Mokuba was okay. Mokuba. He hadn't thought of his little brother all day, the one bright spot of his existence. He sighed in frustration as he amended that last thought to 'one of the bright spots of his existence'. Admitting the truth to himself, he conjured an image of her in his mind. Mazaki Anzu. The one girl whose eyes he could lose himself in. The one girl who could bring him back from the edge of darkness he knew he was walking. No, he had to stop thinking that way. Mazaki Anzu was not, and never would be, his – she was Yugi's little cheerleader. He didn't need anyone else in his life. Happiness and love were not in the cards for him. Gozaburro had taught him that lesson often. Mokuba was enough, would have to be enough, for him. Friends and lovers were dead weight and totally unnecessary if he wanted to succeed.

Scrubbing a hand through his hair as if to chase out unattainable dreams, he made his way down the path to the bridge, his favourite spot, wanting to watch the fireflies come out and do their nightly dance. Coming out of the tree-lined path moments later, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he spied someone, a girl by the looks of it, standing on the apex of the bridge apparently lost in thought. The figure beckoned to him, an aura of calm and peace radiating from her, and his shoes made not a whisper of sound as he approached her. Seto wasn't afraid of being attacked; he knew how to handle himself in any situation. He was Kaiba Seto, master of his own destiny, no matter what that crazy Egyptian woman said.

The stranger moved to rest her chin on her hand as she gazed out over the lake, totally oblivious to his presence five feet away from her. He heard a wordy sigh escape her lips (but he couldn't understand a single syllable) just as the light above her head turned on, revealing her profile to him. His breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. Seto was stunned.

It was Mazaki Anzu but something about her was different, wilder and sexier than he'd ever seen her, and she was blushing. Seto's blood boiled in a cold rage. She was probably thinking about Yugi, that freaky haired little shrimp or the 'other' Yugi that claimed to be the spirit of a 5,000 year dead pharaoh. In an instant, his mind cleared and his anger dissipated like smoke before the wind. He had no claim on her so why was he getting so worked up over the thought of her liking, or possibly loving, someone other than him?

An ache still lingered somewhere close to the vicinity of his heart.

* * *

Not even noticing that the light had turned on overhead, Anzu continued to think about Kaiba, her biggest crush and Yugi's biggest rival. She almost wished that Kaiba were there, standing next to her, so she could tell him how she felt. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she continued to watch the last dying embers of sunlight fade from the sky, leaving behind the darker hues of twilight.

Seto watched her shake her head, watched her look up at the sky as if searching for answers to unspoken questions. Hardly daring to breathe, lest he ruin this solitude of two, he wondered what she was thinking about and sincerely hoped that it wasn't anything to do with Yugi or her other little friends or anyone else, for that matter.

_Admit it, Seto, you hope she's thinking about __**you**__. All those nights you spend alone in your bed, longing for her to be there next to you so you could hold her, touch her, love her. What's stopping you from making those wishes come true right now? It's not like she's Yugi's girlfriend or anything like that. So go on already, talk to her._ His conscience spoke to him rarely and sounded a lot like Mokuba. It was creepy, hearing his little brother's voice giving him advice about girls. But the last time his conscience had piped up so loudly and insistently was to try and talk him out of playing Gozaburro for the chance to be adopted by the most powerful man in Domino. And when he'd overruled his own uneasy feelings, look what had happened to him – pushed to his mental and physical limits and beyond by a tyrannical monster that knew nothing about family or love.

Perhaps he should learn to listen to this voice more often.

Maybe he should take a chance then. What **was** stopping him from talking to her, maybe asking her out for the coffee he still desperately craved?

_Nothing…_

'What's the worst she could say?' he thought to himself, almost hoping for a response from his conscience. He'd always been a risk-taker in business, so why not in other areas of his life as well.

_Depends on the answer you really want to hear…_ his conscience replied softly, still sounding a lot like Mokuba.

That response gave Seto pause. What answer did he want to hear? How would he react either way? Did he really want to pin his heart on his sleeve and take the chance of it being smashed into a million pieces? He gave himself a mental shake. Why couldn't he be an optimist for a change? There was a 50/50 chance either way and while he may not have liked the odds since they didn't favour him, there was no way he could change them. Positive thinking. He needed to believe that she would at least take his proposal seriously.

Anzu smiled brightly as she watched the first star of the evening make its appearance, unaware of her solitary audience standing just behind her. The old nursery rhyme her parents had taught her when she was small came back and she recited it aloud:

"Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight,

Wish I may, wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight…"

Seto heard her talking to herself, heard her chant a nursery rhyme that he remembered from before his parents had died and he listened intently, hoping that she would continue to talk aloud and speak her wish to the wind.

"I wish…I wish **he** were here," she said fervently, closing her eyes and concentrating on an image of Kaiba in her mind's eye.

His heart sank down to his toes. She'd probably wished that Yugi were there next to her. How could he have been so stupid? Why would she wish for him when he'd been nothing but a pain in the ass to her and her friends for the past few years? He should just turn around and walk away, pretend that this whole thing had never happened. His lightning quick temper, and even quicker wit, however, had other ideas.

"Wishing Yugi was here so he could sweep you off your feet?" Seto said condescendingly. "I think he'd have trouble with that, since he's barely taller than your knees."

Anzu froze at the sound of that familiar, velvet-over-gravel voice mocking her and felt her hands clench tightly around the bridge railing. It wasn't possible, was it? She should have been more careful about what she'd wished for.

"K-Kaiba, what are you doing here? Don't you have better things to do than sneak up on people and interrupt private musings?" Anzu retorted, her own anger almost as quick as his. "Besides, what do you care about who I wish were here? It's none of your damned business!"

_Good going, Seto. Now she's mad at you and all because you can't think before you speak. How are you going to get yourself out of this one, eh?_

If he'd known that Mokuba's voice could sound so sarcastic, he would have refused to even consider the possibility of listening to it. As it were, he had no choice now. "But you don't seem to understand, Mazaki. Anything to do with that thrice-damned, second rate duellist **is** my business."

"Then you can keep your nose out of my business since it wasn't even **Yugi** that I'd wished were here!" Anzu exclaimed, her own mouth having the same problem as Seto's – speaking before thinking. Now she'd done it. She could see the smirk building onto his lips as his arms crossed over his chest. Why couldn't she have spent a single second to think about what she was going to say instead of flying off the handle like that and giving him **ammunition** to use against her?

"Oh really?" he replied, watching her hands rise to cover her mouth. His heart was racing as one eyebrow rose in a way that irritated everyone he'd ever come across. "Then who were you thinking about? Don't tell me, you have a thing for stray mutts with shaggy haircuts and bad taste in friends."

"No! Good heavens, no! And it's none of your business, anyways. What **don't** you get about that concept? Not everything I think about has to do with duelling and saving the world." Anzu should have just walked away instead of letting Kaiba goad her into answering his asinine remarks.

"Ahh, I see. Since it has nothing to do with duelling, you must have wished for the pencil-head. He couldn't duel his way out of a wet paper bag with holes at both ends." He tapped his finger on his chin and tried to ignore the wave of jealousy that was rolling through his gut. "Or was it our _wonderful_ friend Bakura? Or possibly our friendly dice-throwing freak, Otogi? Maybe you have a thing for older men, possibly with white hair and named Pegasus? C'mon, Mazaki, one of those must have been the one you were sighing so longingly about." Slowly, he was narrowing down the choices of whom she might have wished for. He could have been nicer about it and just asked, but this was so much more entertaining. The colour was rising on her cheeks and she was so much more becoming when she was angry. In fact, almost every encounter the two of them had shared had involved some form of argument or disagreement. From Duellist Kingdom to the Virtual World to the Battle City finals had seen the two of them throwing some not-so-nice words at each other. Why should this time be any different?

Anzu should have just left well-enough alone and walked away. Kaiba seemed to be taking extreme pleasure in torturing her like this if one could judge from the nasty turn his smirk had taken and the annoying, raised eyebrow. One moment, she'd been alone with her daydreams about Kaiba and in the next reality came crashing down and there he was, in all his malicious glory. She watched him start to take a deep breath and knew he was preparing another onslaught on her choice of whom she'd wished were there. Well, this time, she was going to beat him to the 'punch line'.

"You really want to know who I wished were here with me? Are you **that** interested in my personal, private thoughts? Fine, I'll tell you," Anzu replied, her voice deathly quiet in the aftermath of Kaiba's verbal assault.

Seto almost choked on the breath he was taking. He'd been expecting her to just react to his offensive words as she had before but now she'd taken the initiative to turn things around. Fascinating. "Go ahead, then Mazaki. Surprise me."

"Oh, it's a surprise all right. I'm sure you'll be flabbergasted when I tell you who it was. I'm astonished that you haven't figured it out yet, you being such a genius and all." She had him on the defensive now. Why should she react when she could just turn the tables on him and watch his mouth flap uselessly? This was so much more satisfying, too. "Since it wasn't anyone you've already mentioned - Yugi, Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi, Bakura and Pegasus just to recap – and it isn't Mokuba, Malik, Noa, or anyone else that we've encountered over the last few years, take a wild guess as to who that leaves in our crazy, little group? I'll give you a hint, too, even though you should have realized by now whom it is I'm talking about. He's the only one neither of us has pointed out." Now it was Anzu's turn to cross her arms over her chest and smirk at Kaiba. She should have done this years ago. It was so nice to see Kaiba look thoughtful as opposed to smug and arrogant.

"Stop it with the word games already. Just tell me who you were thinking about." The pleading edge to his voice made him shudder inwardly. There was only one person it could have been but he wanted her to say it. He wanted to hear his name come from her mouth. It was all so obvious now.

"All right, then. I was thinking about **you**, Kaiba - the one person who annoys me more than anyone else in this entire world. Even the people who kept trying to take over the world didn't infuriate me nearly as much as you have over the past few years. You're the only one who's ever challenged me, who's yelled at me, who's made me cry. You, Kaiba Seto, are the one I've thought about all night tonight. You." Anzu's shoulders slumped a bit. That had taken a lot out of her to admit that much when he was standing right in front of her but it was what she'd wished for just moments ago. It wasn't as much as she'd wanted to admit to him but it would have to do for now.

Seto watched her eyes shimmer slightly as they drifted away from the direct contact the two of them had just shared. "Is that all I am to you? An irritation? An annoyance?" His words were soft and quiet and he knew she had to strain to hear them. "That's strange, since that's how I've felt about you and your little group of friends. Everywhere I went, you four were always there, disgusting 'friend' and 'heart of the cards' speeches and all. Every time I tried to reclaim my title, you four somehow managed to stop me. Ever since Duellist Kingdom, you especially have captured my attention. You've been the only one to stand up to me and tell me how you feel to my face. Even tonight, you've told me exactly how you feel about me. So, my question now is, **why** were you thinking about me?"

Anzu wasn't used to this much honesty from him. There was always some sort of ulterior motive for whatever he did but she didn't sense that vibe from him now. His sincerity decided her. "I was thinking about you, Kaiba, because, in all truth and honesty, I **like** you." There, she'd told him how she felt and now waited for the backlash of sarcastic laughter to hit her like a ton of bricks.

His heart fluttered and his stomach twitched – he didn't know whether to laugh giddily or throw up on the spot. Maybe there could be some happiness for him in the future. Seto stepped closer to her, the urge to enfold her in his arms and hold her close almost irrepressible, and said, "That's odd because in all truth and honesty, for all of the times that you've annoyed and irritated me, I've always thought you were amazing and I've… I've… liked you, too." His stomach fluttered this time and he knew he should have just thrown up. This was almost too much for him to handle – this was uncharted territory.

Anzu saw the gleam in his eyes and stepped closer towards him, narrowing the gulf between them by miles. Her hand touched his shoulder and she smiled then, to see confusion spread across his features. "So, we like each other. What do we do now?"

"I don't know for sure but …"

"But what?"

"Do you want to go and get a coffee… with me?"

"Do you think we can spend half an hour together without arguing?" For the first time ever, Anzu saw Kaiba smile. It wasn't a smirk or a grin or anything else. It was amazing how it transformed his features from arrogant to endearing in a matter of seconds.

"Let's find out." Seto reached out to grasp her hand and felt her fingers entwine with his.

Full darkness had settle upon Domino City as the two left the park, hand-in-hand.

* * *

I hope everyone enjoyed this quick, little one-shot. As I said earlier, I needed a break from writing "Advice…" My life has become a whirlwind of sorts with friends and socializing for the Christmas season so my promise to have a new chapter out before then is one I may have to break.

Thanks so much and as always, I am

Aphrael21;)


End file.
